Journal-bearing box



July 20 1926.

1,593,249 S. H. DRAPER JOURNAL BEARING BOX Filed April 17 1924 Patented July 20, 1926.

UNITED STATES 1,593,249 PATENT OFFICE.

summon H. DRAPER, or MISSOU-LA, MONTANA.

JOURNALBEARING BOX.

Application .iled April 17, 1924. Serial No. 707,035.

This invention relates to journal-bearing boxes for locomotive and railway car axles. As such journaI bea'ring boxes have usually been constructed heretofore, there has not been adequate provision for adaptation to or compensation for the constantly varying position of the locomotive frame or truck frame with respect to the axle by the wheels of which the locomotive or car is supported upon the track. Although the axis of each axle changes its inclination as the locomotive or car passes about a curve and, to a slight extent, because of inequalities in the track, it may be considered, for the purposes of this application, that inclination of the axis of the axleren'iaius unchanged and that the relative movement of the frame or body with respect to such axis is due to vertical movement or the side sway of the frame or body of the locomotive or car. Truly vertical movement of the body with respect to the axle is compensated for by provisions which permit relative vertical movement of the body, but side sway or tilting of the body is not adequately compensated for and as a consequence there is more or less tendency to a departure from parallelism as between the axis of the axle and the true axis of the bearing surface of the box, with consequent unequal distribution ofload, unequal distribution of lubricant and therefore of wear, tendency to breakage due to unequal distribution of pressure, and heating. The present inventionhas for its object to provide a journalbearing box which shall be capable of compensating for the variation in relative positionfof the body and axle and so shall overcome the difiiculties mentioned. The invention will be more fully described hereinafter with reference tothe accompanying drawing in which it is illustrated and in which Figure 1. is a perspective v ew 'of a our nal-bearing box constructed .lIl accordance with the invention, the parts being shown as separated in order that the construct1on may be understood more readily.

Figure 2 is a view of the same in vertlcal section on a plane indicated by the broken line 2-2 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a view of the same in section on a horizontal plane indicated by the broken line 3-3 of Figure 2. I

Figure 4 is a partial View, partly in elevation and partly in vertical sect1on, illustrating the relation of an axle and journalbearing box of the former construction.

Figure 5 1s a similar view illustrating the relation of the axle and the improved.]ournal-bearing box.

Referring first to Figure 4, which is intended to illustrate the tendencies in a journal-bearing box as heretofore constructed, in which the box 27, although it may be free for vertical movement in the jaws of the frame which is not necessary to be shown), is nevertheless not free to tilt with respect to the frame, it will be seen that relative movement, in the nature of side sway, of the body and axle, as indicated by the lines 0 d, tends to bring about a displacement of the axle with respect to the box 27 so that the pressure between the axle and the box is at the point 30, on the upper side of the axle and against the bearing box at 32, and at the point 31, at the under side of the axle, with clearance, as indicated at 28 and 29. This condition brings about unequal distribution of the load and lubricant, with accumulation of the lubricant in the spaces 28 and 29 and grinding at the points 30 and 31. The bearing surfaces are not in uniform contact throughout their length I and the load is therefore distributed unequally. Also, as will be noted the box, at its upper edge, bears hard against the hub plate 19, as at the point 32, While at the under side of the axle, as at .34, there is clearance. 'All of these conditions result in unequal wear, distortion,"breakage, improper distribution of load and heating of bearings, and necessitates frequent renewals and refittings' of hub plates and bearing brasses and excessive use of lubricant.

The improved construction is so designed as to overcome the difiiculties above. menas to permit such movement with respect to the frame or body of the locomotive or car that there shall be no tendency to relative displacement of the axle and. box. As shown,

the box 1 is formed with trunnions 7, the.

iii)

her. The relation between the jaws of the frame and the wedge block and shoe is substantially as usual and it is not necessary to show the frame member. The wedge block' under side of the latter is concaved to fit upon the convex bearing surface 14 of the box 1 and on its upper side is formed with seats 8 to receive the spring saddle 15 upon which rests the spring 16.

As illustrated in Figure 5, in the event of any relative movement of the body and the axle 20, the spring saddle may move with the body as heretofore, but, by reason of the radius bearing between the spring saddle block 2 and the bearing .01 box 1, relative movement between the spring saddle, and therefore the frame, on the one hand, and the bearing box on the other hand, will be permitted and there will be no tendency to oss of parallelism between the bearing surfaces of the box 1 and the axle 20. Consequently the bearing surfaces will be in contact throughout their length, the load will be distributed uniformly, the lubricantwill also be distributed uniformly, there will be no pressure at one oint or another and therefore no grinding etween the contact surfaces of the axle and the bearing box, and at its outer end the bearing box will bear uniformly against the hub plate 19 of the wheel 18. It will be observed that if there is a relative displacement between the body and the axle, as indicated, for example, by the lines 0, d of Figure 4 and 0',

d, of Figure 5 the central transverse lane,

of the bearing box 1, with its bearing rass 22, will remain always at a right angle with respect to the axis of the axle, as indicated by the relations of the lines a, a and b, b

I to the lines c'and d of Figure 5.

It will be understood that details of conneeaaee box to receive the axle, said box having trunnions at right angles to the axis of the axle, trunnion plates to receive the trunnions, means to support the trunnions with freedom for vertical movement and channeled lates to support the trunnion plates with reedom for vertical movement.

2. A journaLbearing box for railway car vand locomotive axles comprising a bearing box to receive the axle, said box having trunnions at right angles to the axis of the axle, trunnion plates to receive the trunnions, means to support the trunnions with freedom for vertical movement and channeled plates to support the trunnion plates with freedom for vertical movement, one of said plates being wedge-shaped to take up looseness between the other parts.

3. A journal-bearing box for railway car and locomotive axles comprising a bearing box to receive the axle, means to support the box with freedom to turn on an axis at right angles to the axis of the axle, and a spring sa dle supported by the bearing box, said box having a surface curved on the radius of said first mentioned axis to permit relative movement of the spring saddle with respect to the bearing box.

4. A journal-bearing box for railway car and locomotive axles comprising a bearing box to receive the axle, means to support the box with freedom to turn on an axis at right angles to the axis of the axle, and a spring saddle block on which the sprin saddle is supported, said bearing box an said spring saddle block having bearing surfaces curved on the radius of said first mentioned axis to permit relative movement of the axle 

